Rack support system



N 1966 A. H. FITZPATRICK ETAL 3,288,302

RACK SUPPORT SYSTEM 2 SheecsSheet 1 Filed May 18, 1965 E's. .z

INVENTORS Allyn H. Fitzpatrick Thomas Krzewina By Attorney N 1966 A. H. FITZPATRICK ETAL 3,288,302

RACK SUPPORT SYSTEM Filed May 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Allyn H. Fitzpatrick Arrorney homcls Krzewina BY QLJW W United States Patent 3,288,302. RACK SUPPORT SYSTEM Allyn H. Fitzpatrick, Greendale, and Thomas Krzewina,

Milwaukee, Wis., assignors to General Electric Comparry, a corporation of New York Filed May 18, 1965, Ser. N 456,641 Claims. ((11. 21141) This invention relates to rack support systems, and more particularly to such systems which are particularly suitable for use in dishwashing apparatus of the type wherein a dish-receiving rack is arranged within a dishwasher tub which has an access opening at the front thereof.

It is an object of our invention to provide a rack support structure which is formed of economically made and assembled components, yet which provides the desired movability for the rack and which, where the use is in a dishwasher, is of a shape which tends not to retain food particles thrown against it.v

In one aspect of our invention, we provide a support .system for use in a structure wherein a chamber having side walls and a front opening is intended to have an article-supporting rack formed of wire therein, as is conventional in dishwashers. Horizontally extending elongated track members of uniform cross section are supported by means secured in the side walls so that they are free to move along their axes. Each of the track members is movable between a position entirely within the chamber to a position partly outside the chamber.

The wire rack includes wire means on each side thereof for cooperation with a pair of horizontally spaced racksupporting members secured to each of the track members. Each wire means includes a pair of wires; each of these wires is secured at its ends to the rack. The wires extend horizontally, in vertically spaced relation to each other, intermediate their ends, thereby forming a horizontal slot. The support of the rack is effected by having each of the rack-supporting members positioned within one of the slots to provide for horizontal movement of the rack relative to the track members. The wires are formed so that they stop outward movement of the rack after the rack extends substantially entirely out of the chamber, and so that they stop inward movement of the rack when it is positioned on the track members so as to be entirely within the chamber.

The subject matter which we regard as our invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. Our invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view in cross section of a dishwasher embodying our improved rack support system;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 1 illustrating our improved rack support system in a different position;

FIGURE 3 is a view along line 3--3 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective, illustrating details of our improved rack-supporting system; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation view illustrating a further detail of our invention.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, our invention is shown in an otherwise conventional domestic dishwasher in which an outer'casing 1 includes a suitable structure 2 for the support of a dishwasher tub, or chamber, 3. The tub and outer structure are constructed to provide registering front wall openings, with respect to which a door 4 is hinged at its bottom (hinges not shown) so as to swing between the normally closed vertical position shown in FIGURE 1, and a horizontal open position. Suitable gasket means (not shown) are normally interposed between the door and the periphery of the tub opening to provide for sealing against the leakage of water during operation of the machine.

A pair of vertically spaced racks 5 and 6 are provided within tub 3. Each of the two racks is formed of wire in the conventional manner so as to receive, in suitable position for washing, a varied assortment of dishes, glassware and the like (not shown). Also, each of the two racks is mounted so as to move horizontally forward (to the left, as viewed in FIGURES l and 2) when door 4 is opened, so that the articles in the racks are accessible for loading and unloading purposes. conventionally, rack 6 is provided with roller members 7 secured thereto. Rollers 7 roll on tracks 8 secu ed to side wall 9 of tub 3 and then, as the rack moves horizontally out of the tub, continue to roll on appropriately formed surfaces (not shown) provided on the inner face of the door which, as has been stated, is horizontal when open. The support arrangement for giving the desired movability to upper rack 5 forms the essence of our invention in this case, and will be discussed in detail herebelow, after the general description of the dishwasher is completed.

A conventionalv time cycle control 10 is mounted in a convenient location in the upper portion of door 4. By well known circuitry, control 10 is arranged to control the operating mechanism dispos7d in a machinery compartment 11 below the tub, programing the mechanism .so as to provide a desired plurality of washing and rinsing operations, and a final drying operation. The mechanism within compartment 11 may include, for instance, a solenoid valve 12 connected by piping 13 to a hot water supply (not shown) and supplying water to tub 3 by way of a pipe 14 arranged in relation to a side wall inlet fitting 15 so as to provide the one inch air gap generally required by plumbing codes.

The operating components may further include a pump 16 arranged to be driven by a reversible electric motor 17 and providing for recrculation of water from the sump portion 18 of the tub through a cylindrical pump discharge outlet 19. This recirculation system will normally include a peripheral inlet to the pump, the inlet being provided with any suitable screening or filter device such as that shown at 20. Pump 16 is essentially of the centrifugal type, having a shroud or cover 21 which diverts the pump discharge from its normal radial pattern to a vertical flow through outlet 19.

The pump structure of the dishwasher shown also includes in its lower portion a secondary pump chamber 22 containing a bladed rotor (not shown) which is effective to pump a substantial amount of liquid when rotating in one direction but has substantially no pumping action when rotated in the opposite direction. The discharge pump casing communicates with a discharge conduit 23 which carries vitiated fluids from the dishwasher to any suitable sewer or septic line (not shown) when the pump is rotating in the appropriate direction.

The operating mechanism may further include a conventional pressure operated switch, schematically shown at 24, which by well known electrical circuitry will open the solenoid valve 12 to prevent accumulation of more than a predetermined amount of water within the dishwasher tub.

Outlet 19 communicates with a reaction-type spray arm 25 having orifices arranged in the usual way so that, upon issuance of water therefrom, spray arm 25 is caused to rotate, the water upon issuance providing a cleansing effect on dishes contained in racks 5 and 6. In addition l to move on the track member.

' shape.

to the spray arm 25, the dishwasher may include a conduit 26 leading from the spray arm up to another water discharge device, such as that shown at 27, which is particularly suited to discharge liquid between the racks and 6. This has the effect of improving the washing of articles in rack 5 and of rinsing down any food particles which may be on the articles in rack 6. It will be understood that member 27 may either be rotated by mechanical connection to spray arm 25 through conduit 26, or by having jet orifices of its own to provide the reaction force necessary for rotation.

It is required in machines of this type that the upper rack 5 be mounted so that it will move horizontally between a position entirely within tub 3, as shown in FIGURE 1, to a position entirely outside the tub when door 4 is open. In this connection, it is a known expedient to use rollers mounted on the side walls of the tub, with a track member being mounted to slide to move on the rollers and the rack then being mounted With such an arrangement, the track member may move partly out of chamber 3, and then rack 5 may move partly beyond the end of the track member, the combination of the two factors providing substantially complete removal of the rack member from within tub 3.

In the past, however, most such structures have tended to act as food catchers in that particles of food remaining on dirty dishes inserted into the dishwasher would, under the influence of the liquid striking the dishes, be thrown against the track member and be retained there I by the shape of the track. In addition, the track member itself, together with the structure secured to the rack, tended to be quite expensive, thereby adding considerably to the over-all expense of manufacturing the dishwasher. It is highly desirable to avoid as much as possible any tendency in the rack supporting structure to catch food particles, while at the same time causing the structure to be made out of economical components easily assembled, and it is toward this goal that the present structure, now to be described, is aimed.

It will be understood that, while structure associated with the one side wall 9 shown in the figures is featured throughout the following description, an identical struc- 'ture is cooperatively provided in connection with the opposite side wall of the dishwasher so that the same supporting arrangement is provided on each side of the rack. Rotatably mounted on wall 9 is a first upper pair of rollers including a front roller 28 and a back roller 29, and a second lower pair of rollers including a front roller 30 and a back roller 31. Each roller may be secured to the tub wall by any desired means. For instance, as shown clearly in the enlarged FIGURE 3, and in specific connection with roller 28, the roller is formed with a central opening through which a member 32 having a threaded portion 33 may be passed, the threaded portion engaging the tub wall 9 and an appropriate receiving member 33a. The threaded member 32 provides a bearing surface 33b on which roller 28 may rotate freely.

Each of the rollers 28, 29, 30 and 31 has a peripheral groove, that is, the periphery thereof is concavely curved so as to provide a groove 34. Rollers 28 and 30 and rollers 29 and 31 are spaced vertically an equal distance from each other so as to receive therebetween an elon gated track member 35. In accordance with our invention, this track member is preferably of a simple elliptical It will readily be recognized that this permits the member to be very readily formed either from a molded or extruded plastic, or thin sheet metal bent to the desired shape. The elliptical shape has an inherent strengthening effect so that, in addition to the shape being a smoothly curved one, it is also highly useful, especially where metal is used.

The smoothly curved ends of the major axis of the ellipse 0f efiQh l i gk member 35 are received in the peripheral grooves 34 of the rollers between the upper and lower rollers, i.e;; the major axis of the ellipse extends vertically. Thus, each track member 35 may-move axially in and out from a position entirely within tub 3, as shown in FIGURE 1, to a position where at least a part of it is out of tub 3, as shown in FIGURE 2. The l mit of motion of member 35 in going horizontally out of tub 3 may be predetermined by the provision of a stop member 36 formed as a U-shaped pin secured on the track member. Pin 36 engages the upper roller 29 as track member 35 is pulled out, thereby stopping further outward motion of the track member.

It will be observed that member 36 may readily be pivoted downwardly in a clockwise direction, as shown in FIGURE 5, to the postion shown in dotted outline. This then permits member 35 to be removed entirely from within the tub. Since the track member is secured to the rack, as explained below, this therefore permits the rack to be easily removed from within the tub when so desired.

Each track member 35 has secured thereto a front roller 37 and a back roller 38. As is particularly well shown in FIGURE 3, each of these rollers may be secured to the track member 35 by any suitable means, such as, for instance, a rivet 38', which passes through the track member transversely in the direction of the minor axis of the ellipse. and is secured to a part 39 of the roller 37. Roller 37 is, in effect, made in two parts, the one part 39 as already described and the other being a part 40. 'Part 39 includes an outer portion 41 and a central groove-forming portion 42, while part 40 simply has an outer portion 43 which, when part 40 is in position as shown, cooperates with the different portions of part 39 to form groove 44. Part 40 is secured to part 39 by any suitable device such as a threaded member 45 which is passed through parts 40 and 39 at the axis thereof. Thus, with part 39 secured to track 35, and with part 40 secured to part 39, a complete roller 37 secured to the track is provided.

It is readily observable from FIGURES l, 2 and 4, particularly FIGURE 4, that the rollers 37 and 38 are received within horizontally extending slots 46 and 47 formed by the vertically spaced horizontally extending central sections of wires 48 and 49, in the case of roller 37, and wires 50 and 51, in the case of roller 38. Referring particularly to wires 48 and 49 they are both connected to each other and to the bottom wire 52 of rack 5 by any suitable means, such as, for instance, spot welding, both at their front ends 53 and at their back ends 54. The wires 48 and 49 may appropriately be formed of a wire similar in gauge to the same material of which the rest of rack 5 is formed; this has been found to improve the appearance of the rack, as a whole, and to permit assembly of the wires 48 and 49 to the other parts of the rack in exactly the same way as the remainder of the rack is assembled to each other. 1

It will be seen that this provides a particularly advantageous construction, inasmuch as the horizontal slots for receiving rollers 37 and 38 are provided by the same identical type of construction of which the rest of the rack is formed, so that none of the sharp configurations resulting in undesirable food catching will occur. It is further to be noted that the slots may be formed quickly and simply by causing the wires to be positioned in vertically spaced relation in their central horizontally extending sections.

Another advantage obtained is the ease of assembly of the wire rack to the track member and the rollers mounted on the track member. Referring particularly to FIG- URE 3, it can readily be seen that portion 42 of part 39 may be passed through the slot 46 between the two wires 48 and 49, and that thereafter the last portion 40 of the roller may be assembled so as to provide the roller groove 44 with the wire elements in position therein.

With this arrangement, then, when the track member 35 has been pulled out of the tub 3 as far as it will go, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4, the racks will move forward as rollers 37 and 38 pass throughtheir respective slots 45 and 47. When finally one or both rollers reach the ends of their slots, that is, a portion where the wires extend up into engagement with the remainder of rack 5, movement is automatically stopped with the structure in the correct position for loading and unloading of dishes.

While in accordance with the patent statutes, we have described what at present is considered to be the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention. We, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of our invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a structure providing a chamber having side walls and a front opening, wherein there is an article-supporting rack formed of wire, a support system comprising:

(a) a pair of elongated track members of uniform cross section;

(b) means secured to said walls and respectively sup porting said track members for horizontal movement along their axes between positions entirely within said chamber to positions partly outside said chamber;

(c) two horizontally spaced rack-supporting members secured to each of said track members;

(d) wire means respectively associated with each racksupporting member, each said wire means including a pair of Wires each secured at its ends to said rack, the two Wires of each said pair extending horizontally in vertically spaced relation to each other intermediate their ends to form a horizontal slot;

(e) each of said rack-supporting members being positioned within one of said slots to provide for horizontal movement of said rack relative to said track members, said wires being formed to stop outward movement of said rack after said rack extends substantially entirely out of said chamber and to stop inward movement of said rack when it is positioned on said track members so as to be entirely within said chamber.

2. In a structure providing a chamber having side walls and a front opening, wherein there is an article-supporting raclg formed of wire, a support system comprising:

(a) a pair of elongated track members of uniform cross section;

(b) means secured to said walls and respectively supporting said elongated track members for horizontal movement along their axes between positions entirely within said chamber to positions partly outside said chamber;

(0) two horizontally spaced rack-supporting members secured to each of said elongated members;

(d) wire means associated with said rack-supporting members on each side of said rack, each said wire means including at least one upper wire and at least one lower wire vertically spaced from each other intermediate their ends and having a central portion extending horizontally so as to form horizontal slot means for receiving said rack-supporting members;

(e) said rack-supporting members being positioned within said slot means to provide for horizontal movement of said rack relative to said track members, said wires being formed to stop outward movement of said rack after said rack extends substantially entirely out of said chamber, and to stop inward movement of said rack when it is positioned on said track members so as to be entirely within said chamber.

3. The support system defined in claim 1 wherein said track members have an elliptical cross section, and where in said means secured to said walls comprise pairs of upper and lower rollers vertically spaced from each other so that each said track member is received between them, each of said rollers having a peripheral groove for receiving one of said track members, the major axis of the ellipse of said track member cross section extending vertically.

4. The support system defined inclaim 1 wherein each said track member carries two spaced rollers each having peripheral grooves, said wires being positioned Within said grooves.

5. The support system defined in claim 4 wherein each of said rollers comprises two axially spaced portions cooperatively forming said igroove when secured in axial juxtaposition to each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,015,389 9/1935 Whitted 108143 2,750,052 6/1956 Brown et al 108l43 3,096,125 7/1963 Kendt 3083.8

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner, W1 LQULA s st n Ex i e 

1. IN A STRUCTURE PROVIDING A CHAMBER HAVING SIDE WALLS AND A FRONT OPENING, WHEREIN THERE IS AN ARTICLE-SUPPORTING RACK FORMED OF WIRE, A SUPPORT SYSTEM COMPRISING: (A) A PAIR OF ELONGATED TRACK MEMBERS OF UNIFORM CROSS SECTION; (B) MEANS SECURED TO SAID WALLS AND RESPECTIVELY SUPPORTING SAID TRACK MEMBERS FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT ALONG THEIR AXES BETWEEN POSITIONS ENTIRELY WITHIN SAID CHAMBER TO POSITIONS PARTLY OUTSIDE SAID CHAMBER; (C) TWO HORIZONTALLY SPACED RACK-SUPPORTING MEMBERS SECURED TO EACH OF SAID TRACK MEMBERS; (D) WIRE MEANS RESPECTIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH EACH RACKSUPPORTING MEMBER, EACH SAID WIRE MEANS INCLUDING A PAIR OF WIRES EACH SECURED AT ITS ENDS TO SAID RACK, THE TWO WIRES OF EACH SAID PAIR EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY IN VERTICALLY SPACED RELATION TO EACH OTHER INTERMEDIATE THEIR ENDS TO FORM A HORIZONTAL SLOT; (E) EACH OF SAID RACK-SUPPORTING MEMBERS BEING POSITIONED WITHIN ONE OF SAID SLOTS TO PROVIDE FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID RACK RELATIVE TO SAID TRACK MEMBERS, SAID WIRES BEING FORMED TO STOP OUTWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID RACK AFTER SAID RACK EXTENDS SUBSTANTIALLY ENTIRELY OUT OF SAID CHAMBER AND TO STOP INWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID RACK WHEN IT IS POSITIONED ON SAID TRACK MEMBERS SO AS TO BE ENTIRELY WITHIN SAID CHAMBER. 